The Restaurants Are Fighting Back...

You have to appreciate a guy like Jeffrey Chodorow. He doesn't take bad news very well. At one point, he had one of the hottest chefs in New York (Rocco DiSpirito) opening a restaurant (Rocco's) on an NBC reality show. This marketing coup soon became a public relations disaster, and as so often happens, the lawyers made it even worse.

He survived the Rocco debacle, but when it came to his recently opened Kobe Club, he definitely struggled with the "satisfactory" review from Frank Bruni of the New York Times. When you are expecting two, or even three stars from one of the most powerful newspapers in the world, "satisfactory" is not going to get it done. He already had seen positive reviews from Bob Lape (Crain's New York); Gael Greene (New York Magazine) and John Mariani (Esquire Magazine). This particular review was even worse than bad news, and Mr. Chodorow decided to take immediate action.

Actually, he did what any owner would do - he spent some $80,000 for a page in the very paper that ripped him and proceeded to basically question Mr. Bruni's qualifications to be a restaurant critic in the first place. Chodorow called his no-stars review more of a personal attack on him rather than a legitimate review of his restaurant. It is important to note that Jeffrey Chodorow took the opportunity to announce the launch of his new blog called "Chodoblog" so one could argue that if it becomes successful, maybe the 80-grand was well spent.

Also in fairness, Frank Bruni had this to say… "I completely understand his being disappointed in the Kobe Club review, but all those things I've written are completely honest, if inevitably subjective. None of them had any personal grudge. The next time he opens a restaurant that seems to be the kind that warrants a look and a review, it will get the same open-minded reaction that any new place gets."

In the meantime, a steakhouse owner in the City of Brotherly Love has begun legal action against Craig LaBan, the Philadelphia Inquirer restaurant critic. In a review of another steakhouse LaBan took a shot at Chops on City Line Avenue where he recently experienced a "miserably tough and fatty strip steak." According to the suit filed by Chops owner Alex Plotkin, LaBan had a steak sandwich minus the bread, not a strip steak. Mr. Plotkin also had this to say..."No legitimate food critic would ever mistake, or compare, a steak sandwich with a strip steak." Maybe it's a sign of the times, but for whatever reason, the restaurants are fighting back.

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